Adventures in Pet Food

Debbie Phillips-Donaldson, editor-in-chief of Petfood Industry, shares her insights and opinions on all things pet food, addressing market trends as well as news and developments in pet nutrition, food safety and other hot topics for the industry.

Petfood is third largest category for omega-3 new product launches

New petfood products and ingredients are often said to follow
closely behind trends in human food, though I would argue that petfood is often
in lock-step with human food any more. Case in point: A brief report issued
recently by Innova Market Insights showed that in 2013, petfood accounted for 15.1%
of global launches of all products containing omega-3 fatty acids.

In fact, petfood was the third largest category
for such new product launches, ranking only behind human baby food at 25.5% and
meat, fish and egg products at 22%. (Rounding out the new products were sauces
and seasonings at 9.5% and dairy products at 8.3%.) “Continued interest in the
potential health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is reflected by the recent
increase in new product launch activity, with a wide variety of health claims
used associated to omega-3s,” said NutritionInsights.com, reporting the Innova
data.

While all the new product launch examples in the report were
for human food, it was noteworthy—and a testament to our industry’s strong product
development—that petfood launches were included in the data. The figures also
demonstrated regional differences. North America had almost 3.5% of new product
launches carrying omega-3 claims, compared to 1.7% in Western Europe—a reflection,
Innova indicated, of varying regulatory environments regarding heart-disease-related
claims for humans.

Interestingly, growth trends in the launch of products with
omega-3 claims somewhat tracks growth in the petfood industry, with many of the
same developing markets, such as Eastern Europe and Latin America, registering
the largest increases for both. In terms of new omega-3-containing products,
Eastern Europe enjoyed the biggest rise in 2013, at 75.8%, followed by the
Middle East at 47.4% and Latin America at 43.8%. However, Western Europe also
had strong growth, at 40.5%, while North America saw a decline of 4.6% in the
launch of these products. That’s somewhat the opposite of petfood sales growth.

The slowdown in new omega-3 product launches in North
America also seems counter to other data that continues to show strong US consumer
interest and purchase of functional foods for both humans and pets. I would
speculate that perhaps US consumers are turning to other functional
ingredients, except that five of Innova’s 12 human food examples of new product
launches containing omega-3s are from the US! Go figure.

The Innova report also keys on two sources of omega-3 fatty
acids that are becoming more popular, flax and chia seeds. From 2010 to 2013, global
launches of products containing flax seed have enjoyed a 19% compound annual
growth rate (CAGR), while new products with chia seed have grown a whopping 90.5%
(albeit from a much smaller base). As we know, flax seed has become an
increasingly common ingredient in natural petfoods, and chia seeds are starting
to show up, too, especially in pet treats.

More information about consumer trends in natural pet
products will be available in a Petfood
Industry webinar on October 15, presented by Eric J. Pierce, director of
strategy and insights for New Hope Natural Media. The webinar, which is sponsored
by Trouw Nutrition, requires registration but is free.

May 2020

In the May 2020 issue of Petfood Industry, discover which U.S. pet food companies were added to China's customs list, how AAFCO regulations are likely to change and what the pet food industry will look like after the COVID-19 pandemic.